The Institute of Infection launches its first project, led by Imperial College Master’s Students

By Anjana Nair
March 16th, 2022

Seven Science Communication Master’s students from Imperial College London developed the ‘Hidden Histories of Infectious Disease Research‘ webpage to discuss infection disease research more effectively.

The Institute of Infection launched its first project, the ‘Hidden Histories of Infectious Diseases‘, last month. The project is aimed at transforming the understanding and control of infection through interdisciplinary research. The Communicators In-Residence, as the institute addresses, are students studying MSc in Science Communication at Imperial College London. Along with their studies, they also collaborate with the institute to foster more informative and engaging discussions about infection disease research. 

The Institute of Infection proudly voices interdisciplinary collaboration and is known for applying its approach effectively to solve major global challenges. Building on its strong foundations, the institute unites clinical, medical, engineering, natural science, and economic researchers to transform the way infection is studied, taught, and mitigated around the world. The new initiative helps achieve this potential to its fullest ability. And these students are the institute’s new face, gloriously exemplifying how science can be communicated in a better way. 

The Communicators In-Residence created a communications platform – a website, using various multimedia sources to highlight the rich history of infectious diseases. Hailing from different backgrounds like astrosociology, human science and healthcare, biotechnology, art, neuroscience, and bioarchaeology, they delved into the nitty-gritties of infection-related research. 

The team, including Clare Baker, Charlie Delilkan, Olivia Jani, Robert Miller, Mayah Pico, Anjana Nair, and Holly Worrall, worked collectively on developing unique communication pieces, while also exploring the mission of the Institute to promote interdisciplinary endeavours. Ingrid Espinosa, another student studying the same master’s program also contributed to designing the graphic elements of the project. The need to improve levels of international cooperation and coordination among scientific agencies and stakeholders instigated the creation of such a project. 

In December 2021, infection researchers from the college were invited to work with the communicators in residence via a call for application. With these students’ abilities, the call garnered a large amount of interest from more than 15 research groups that were eventually narrowed to two separate projects. The Hidden Histories of Infectious Diseases is the first project to come out of the year-long collaboration with the Institute. Successful completion of the second project is expected by the end of the upcoming summer term. 

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Anjana Nair is the Reviews Editor for I,Science and is studying an MSc in Science Communication at Imperial College London. She is also part of the team that developed the ‘Hidden Histories of Infectious Disease Research’ webpage